Wood Boiler Newbie --- What are the best brands of Boilers?

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

Hello everyone --- We live on ~50 acres and seem to have an endless supply of wood. We have spoken with the local Central Boiler dealer regarding a new 760 HDX model which will meet our needs. However I do see Central Boiler has some mixed reviews around here. What are the other brands i should look into? Seems dealers around this part of the country are sparce.

We plan on heating our pool, a shop and our house with it.

Thoughts/Advice/Warnings are welcome! Thanks in advance

 

[brenndatomu]

HeatMaster, or Polar...no Central! 😝

 

[hedge wood]

With all the issues I have had with my Garn I sure wouldn't recommend one of them.

 

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

HeatMaster, or Polar...no Central! 😝

Thanks for the recommendation, I put in an inquiry for Polar. I had looked into Heatmaster but moved to Central because the dealer was ~120 miles closer. Honestly, I don't really care how far the dealer is so long as the furnace is reliable and they pick up the phone!

 

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

With all the issues I have had with my Garn I sure wouldn't recommend one of them.

Got it, thank you for the input. I hadn't heard of that brand but will avoid.

 

[Tonty]

I love my Switzer, but it’s an indoor unit an you are looking for an outdoor?

 

[salecker]

My Econoburn has served me well
We just went through a -40 C stretch of weather
On year 14
I have it in an separate building which houses the storage tanks and my backup oil boiler,125' to my house

 

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

I love my Switzer, but it’s an indoor unit an you are looking for an outdoor?

Yes that is correct --- looking for an outdoor unit.

 

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

My Econoburn has served me well
We just went through a -40 C stretch of weather
On year 14
I have it in an separate building which houses the storage tanks and my backup oil boiler,125' to my house

Thanks for the recommendation, i just sent a note to them --- their website for "outdoor" furnaces isn't working, hopefully they will get back to me next week.

 

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

Does anyone have experience with Crown Royal --- Found this 7400E

Also re-looking at Heatmaster G10000

 

[all night moe]

Keep in mind, if you get a gasser, it will be picky on wood quality.
They like low moisture content wood. They can be a savings had on wood quantity though.

 

[sloeffle]

Does anyone have experience with Crown Royal --- Found this 7400E

Also re-looking at Heatmaster G10000

You can heat four or so buildings with a G10000. With a gasification boiler it’s better to go a little smaller than too big.

Crown Royal makes a nice boiler too but they’ve had issues with the nozzles cracking after a year or so.

 

[brenndatomu]

You can heat four or so buildings with a G10000. With a gasification boiler it’s better to go a little smaller than too big.

This! ^ ^ ^
My folks have a G10000 heating 2 old farm houses and 2 shops, one pretty good size, and the G10 plays with that...I'm pretty sure a G7000 would have done the job just fine 99% of the time.

Does anyone have experience with Crown Royal --- Found this 7400E

Also re-looking at Heatmaster G10000

What are you heating...a G10000 in the south seems like WAY overkill...

 

[peakbagger]

If you are new to OWBs and they are legal in your area, make sure to spend the time and prep work to install the underground piping correctly. There are frequent questions from new owners about why their boilers are not heating their homes or using too much wood. If the underground piping is undersized, poorly insulated, installed too shallow or in wet trench, they can all cripple the installation for the long term. Many people regard this piping as an afterthought and to do it right will cost money.

 

[all night moe]

If you are new to OWBs and they are legal in your area, make sure to spend the time and prep work to install the underground piping correctly. There are frequent questions from new owners about why their boilers are not heating their homes or using too much wood. If the underground piping is undersized, poorly insulated, installed too shallow or in wet trench, they can all cripple the installation for the long term. Many people regard this piping as an afterthought and to do it right will cost money.

^^^ Yes, this.
OP, there is a whole thread on this in the sticky section.

 

[salecker]

Thanks for the recommendation, i just sent a note to them --- their website for "outdoor" furnaces isn't working, hopefully they will get back to me next week.

Mine is the outdoor version but i put it inside a building.
14 years ago the indoor and outdoor versions were the same under the extra insulation and tin enclosure that the outdoor had

 

[mynx]

Got it, thank you for the input. I hadn't heard of that brand but will avoid.

I’m sure every brand has its problems here and there. I also have a Garn and am extremely satisfied with it. I did have a leak three years ago right after I bought my house, but that was due to the complete lack of maintenance on the part of the prior owners. Now that that has been taken care of. It has been problem free and heating my home and shop in the frigid upper peninsula without difficulty. I would research all brands carefully. One thing I would encourage you to consider is a system that employees thermal storage. Systems such as the central boiler with very small to nonexistent thermal storage have to burn more or less continuously , which often means a damp down fire and lots of smoke. My system has 2000 gallons of storage which gives me 480000 btu of stored energy (8 btu/gal/degree x 2000 gal x 30 degree delta T). On the coldest of days I have to make two fires a day. During the shoulder seasons I make one fire per day. Good luck in your quest!

 

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

Keep in mind, if you get a gasser, it will be picky on wood quality.
They like low moisture content wood. They can be a savings had on wood quantity though.

We already have 4 cords for next year cut and drying. We are using IBC totes and moving them with the tractor. We just took about 40 trees down around our house for a pool we are going to have installed in the next couple of months, planning on converting all of that into usable firewood, my problem is I am out of IBC totes!

 

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

You can heat four or so buildings with a G10000. With a gasification boiler it’s better to go a little smaller than too big.

Crown Royal makes a nice boiler too but they’ve had issues with the nozzles cracking after a year or so.

So we are in AG zone 7a (north atlanta), we have a 5000 sq ft house, planning on installing by a ~38000 gallon pool with spa by May24, and we will be building a 2400 sq ft floor shop/garage with an finished second level after the pool is completed.

We are planning on running the broiler from April to September, heating the pool only in April and September, and using the broiler to heat the house and shop all other months.

I have done the math on a 760 HDX and i believe it will meet our heating demands, in trying to compare the 760 HDX specs to the Heatmaster line it seemed like the G7000 was too small but yes I agree the g10000 seemed big. I am curious if you think we could size down to the G7000 with the above demand requirements, I'd much prefer saving a couple thousand going with the smaller one if it did the job!

 

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

You can heat four or so buildings with a G10000. With a gasification boiler it’s better to go a little smaller than too big.

Crown Royal makes a nice boiler too but they’ve had issues with the nozzles cracking after a year or so.

Is the cracking issue you mentioned something fixable or is this catastrophic?

 

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

This! ^ ^ ^
My folks have a G10000 heating 2 old farm houses and 2 shops, one pretty good size, and the G10 plays with that...I'm pretty sure a G7000 would have done the job just fine 99% of the time.

What are you heating...a G10000 in the south seems like WAY overkill...

Quite possible --- would appreciate thoughts as well (house, pool, shop)

 

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

^^^ Yes, this.
OP, there is a whole thread on this in the sticky section.

I have heard this but haven't put much thought into it. I was planning on using Central Broilers ThermaPex, i was quoted ~$15 per foot --- i'll look into the sticky and see what the best product is

 

[Diesel_HoneyPot]

I’m sure every brand has its problems here and there. I also have a Garn and am extremely satisfied with it. I did have a leak three years ago right after I bought my house, but that was due to the complete lack of maintenance on the part of the prior owners. Now that that has been taken care of. It has been problem free and heating my home and shop in the frigid upper peninsula without difficulty. I would research all brands carefully. One thing I would encourage you to consider is a system that employees thermal storage. Systems such as the central boiler with very small to nonexistent thermal storage have to burn more or less continuously , which often means a damp down fire and lots of smoke. My system has 2000 gallons of storage which gives me 480000 btu of stored energy (8 btu/gal/degree x 2000 gal x 30 degree delta T). On the coldest of days I have to make two fires a day. During the shoulder seasons I make one fire per day. Good luck in your quest!

So you have to start a fire every day? Seems like it would be easier to just have one going constantly and just add logs once a day --- this is how i understand the central broiler/heatmaster/crown royal systems work

 

[brenndatomu]

Quite possible --- would appreciate thoughts as well (house, pool, shop)

I think a G7 would do it...you aren't heating the house shop pool all at the same time, are you?
Most of the time when heating saeon for the house and shop are ending, pool heating is starting.
Keep in mind that gassers love to be run hard...or at least not idle all the time

 

[brenndatomu]

So you have to start a fire every day? Seems like it would be easier to just have one going constantly and just add logs once a day --- this is how i understand the central broiler/heatmaster/crown royal systems work

You light a fire whenever your storage tank temp needs charged back up...way more efficient when running an old school forest eater boiler. If your storage tank is big enough you only fire the boiler once every day or three